Treasurer Bren
Ladino gave her annual report and a substantial amount
of money went to the Save the Pond Fund from the
sales of a variety of items. These were sold at the fair
of the Lakeville Library and are still available for purchase.
These include Save the Pond T-shirts ($10.00), Boat/Tote
bags ($12.00) and Hot Plates ($25.00)..

Colleen
Sheerin reported the success that she, Bren Ladino
and Becky Levesque had in obtaining The United Way of
Greater New Bedford Mini-Grant award of $1800. which will
be used to purchase Benthic Barriers to be used in a Freetown
cove area. The Lakes & Ponds Association will come to
train us on how to use them. We are very grateful for all
their efforts and hope that it will be a successful program
with volunteers from Long Pond assisting in getting these
mats operating next Spring.

We desperately
need volunteers of many ages and abilities to effectively
coordinate, communicate and physically place the mats in
specific areas to assess their effectiveness as one solution
to control the weeds.
Permissions from Freetown officials must be obtained, and
the 8' x 100' mats need to be spread underwater in the early
Spring. PVC pipes or other suitable material will be sought
after as well. After approx. 6 - 8 weeks, the mats can be
re-used in another location.

Reported
progress of the Demo project in which Clark Shores was
studied for sewage alternatives on the west side of the
lake.

Multi
dwelling treatment facilities have been examined, but
would be less effective than a large area solution involving
the entire West side of the lake.

New
Bedford is the most amiable for connection for sewerage
treatment. They have capacity and was more cost effective
than single systems or other towns.

The
high cost (~$22 Million) of West side sewerage treatment
will require Federal and State funds.

The
Conservation Commission of Lakeville is examining all
of the ramifications and alternatives for sewerage treatment.

Any
sewerage solutions beyond septic systems will be at least
five years in the future if not longer.

Remembered
the influence of our letters to help push bills. Using
non-local return addresses increases the span and visibiility
of our requests.

Stressed
the importance of attending Town Meetings for obtaining
money for projects

Works
with Rep. Canessa to get state aid and has much to do
with financial planning to hold tax rate for potential
betterment fees on those involved in any sewage solutions.

Steve
Canessa - As our new Representative he is well
respected and was recognized as "Freshman Representative
of the Year " and has shown great interest in Long
Pond and the difficulties we face. He got immediate support
from his colleagues at the State House for his bill seeking
grant money for state lakes. It is too soon to tell if his
bill will be passed this year.

Steve
was asked a variety of questions. Amoung them was who has
the responsibility for marking dangerous rocks on the lake.
He pursued this and found the following:

Below you will find information that you
requested regarding state markings on rocks and low-lying
areas in ponds. This information was sent to me from
the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Please
let me know if you have any questions, I hope this
is helpful. Steve

According to the Office of Fishing and
Boating Access (formerly the Public Access Board),
which is an office under our Department of Fish and
Game (DFG)  the boat launch at Long Pond in
Freetown is owned and operated by the Town of Freetown.

The Office of Fishing and Boating Access Director,
Jack Sheppard, has confirmed that the boat ramp is
actually owned by the Office, but the town of Freetown
operates it under a management agreement with the
Office. (This was something they volunteered to do).
Its a very busy lake and the Office says that
the Town handles these responsibilities very nicely.

The Office is only aware of one state that marks
ponds in the way that your constituent is interested
in: Maryland. Apparently they also have a state office
with a $20 million budget to do this. This is not
the case in Massachusetts.

Red
Nutile -who for years instructed us on the Free Boating
Safety Class, will be moving from Long Pond and we wished
him well in his new life adventures. He continues to help
us with his generous efforts in seeking speakers and water
quality solutions. His efforts are most appreciated!

He
did inform us of the last minute cancellation of the speaker
from the former Clean Quest Company despite all his efforts
in arranging his presence. Eddie Barrett said he will look
into another local company that proposes to do a similar
water treatment.

We still need
the support of everyone living within the pond communities
in order for us to get to the solutions concerning our pond.

Volunteers
Needed for:

Any
help of any kind!

Hanging
Posters in a variety of locations for the next annual
meeting and also for Mat placement schedule in the Spring